Idioms about Time.
A quick one today... Idioms related to time. There are many other idioms in English which actually feature the word 'time'- in time/on time/in the nick of time which you could also look at if you so wished.
To
be Against the clock
|
If you do something against
the clock, you are rushed and have very little time to do it.
They are working against the clock to have
the presentation ready for Monday.
|
To
be All along
|
If something has
existed or been somewhere all along, it has been there all the time,
from the beginning.
I had been looking for my keys for some
time before I realized they had been in my pocket all along.
|
To
be Better late than never
|
When someone does
something late, this remark means that it is better to do it late than not do
it at all.
Do you know what time it is? You promised
you'd come early to help me - but better late than never I suppose!
|
To
be In the blink of an eye
|
If something happens
in the blink of an eye, it happens nearly instantaneously, with hardly
enough time to notice it.
The pickpocket disappeared in the blink of
an eye.
|
To
be By degrees
|
If something happens
or develops by degrees, it happens gradually or little by little as
time goes by.
By degrees their business relationship grew
into friendship.
|
To Clock
in/out
|
When you clock in or
out, you record the time you arrive or leave your job by punching a
time clock to the show the number of hours you have worked.
I'm going to clock out early today.
I've got a dental appointment.
|
To Cut
it/things fine
|
If you cut it/cut
things fine, you leave barely enough time to do something.
You're counting just an hour between the
airport and the train station -
isn't that cutting things a bit fine? |
To
be (doing something for)Donkey's years
|
If someone has been
doing something for donkey's years, they have been doing it for a very
long time.
He knows the town inside out. He's
been living here for donkey's years.
|
To
be Down to the wire
|
If something such as
project or a match goes down to the wire, the situation can change up
until the last possible moment.
There's nothing as exciting as watching a
game that goes down to the wire.
|
To
(do something) At the eleventh hour
|
If something happens at
the eleventh hour, it happens when it is almost too late, or at the last
possible moment.
Our team won after they scored a goal at
the eleventh hour.
|
To
have Five o'clock shadow
|
This expression refers
to a patch of stubble on the face of a man who hasn't shaved for at least a
day.
He looked tired and had a five o'clock
shadow.
|
To
be In the interim
|
Something that happens
in the interim takes place during a period of time between two events.
I won't have the apartment until next
month. In the interim I'm staying at a local hotel.
|
To
be In the long run
|
This term refers to
something that will have effect over or after a long period of time.
Learning Chinese is going to be difficult,
but it'll be worth it in the long run because it will help me to get a better
job.
|
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